THE JAPAN NEWS

 

More and more people are checking themselves out at supermarkets and other stores with the growing introduction of self-checkout machines (see below).

The machines help reduce the number of cashiers and help stores cope with a shortage of sales staff, which is an issue for the retail sector. Increasingly advanced self-checkout terminals are also boosting the spread of the machines.

At an outlet of the Life supermarket chain in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, eight self-checkout machines are placed beside manned cash registers. A customer in her 60s who bought sweets and other items said, “I always use a self-checkout machine because I can pay more quickly than at a manned cash register.” She deftly scanned the bar codes on her items using a reader.

“We’ve been able to eliminate two cashiers in some time slots and improve queues for manned cash registers,” a deputy manager of the outlet said.

The chain operator, Life Corp., introduced self-checkout machines in 2008 and had installed a total of about 180 at 30 outlets as of March, which accounts for more than 10 percent of all its outlets. The company plans to increase the number of self-checkout terminals in the future.
Scannable discount stickers

The country’s first self-checkout machine is said to have been introduced by Aeon Group at an outlet in Chiba Prefecture in 2003.

Japan has lagged behind Europe and the United States in the use of the machines, partly because many customers pay in cash in Japan. Even so, more self-checkout machines have been introduced in the past few years, as many companies are struggling with a labor shortage.

 

According to a survey by three business organizations, including the New Supermarket Association of Japan, self-checkout machines were introduced at nearly 30 percent of supermarkets, including supermarket operators that have installed the machines at only some outlets, as of the summer of 2015. The larger the supermarket chain is, the more self-checkout machines it has introduced.

Other kinds of stores are also introducing self-checkout machines. FamilyMart Co. introduced its first self-checkout machines at its outlet at a station operated by Keisei Electric Railway Co. in November last year, and plans to install the machines at a total of 1,500 outlets by February 2018.

According to Toshiba Tec Corp., a major cash register manufacturer, machines equipped with a scanner capable of scanning discount stickers are popular among retail stores, as are small self-checkout machines that can be installed in limited space.

If a reduced consumption tax rate for some food products is introduced, many companies are expected to buy new cash registers or update their existing ones. “More supermarkets will introduce self-checkout machines in the future,” a senior official at a major supermarket said.

■ Self-checkout machines
Many self-checkout machines are equipped with two scales – one for weighing shopping baskets and one for weighing bagged items after their bar codes are scanned. The system is intended to compare weights measured by the scales to prevent nonpayment. Customers pay by inserting cash or a credit card in the machine. A “semi-self-checkout” style, in which clerks scan bar codes and customers pay on their own, is also becoming popular.
 
By Ryosuke Yamauchi/Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer